SQL Server administration and T-SQL development, Web Programming with ASP.NET, HTML5 and Javascript, Windows Phone 8 app development, SAP Smartforms and ABAP Programming, Windows 7, Visual Studio and MS Office software
Microsoft Windows Tools, Applications, Tutorials, Tips and Tricks for Windows Users


How to Change Windows Vista Start Menu Power Button default option to Shut Down instead of Sleep


If you are a Windows Vista user, I'm sure you have asked yourself how can you shutdown your computer easily using the Start Menu power buttons.

Vista start menu buttons

I thought there was a problem with my computer since I was sure I had pressed the Shutdown button.

But my computer was in sleep when the start menu shutdown power button is clicked and my computer was not waking up later on.

By taking some care on the start menu power button, I realized that the tooltip displayed when my mouse is on the button is as :

Vista start menu power button tooltip for sleep

"Saves your session and puts the computer in a low-power state so that you can quickly resume working."

But actually this was not what I aimed while trying to turn off my computer by clicking on the power button on the start menu.

So I used the power menu that is displayed by the small arrow button as shown in the screenshot below, and selected the Shut Down menu item to close the computer.

Windows Vista start menu shut-down options

But later on I learnt that this is a new "Power Options" feature introduced to Windows users with the Windows Vista.





To configure the power options of your Windows Vista operating system, you should open the "Control Panel" and select the "System and Maintenance" for further details. (Control Panel\System and Maintenance)

The "Power Options" sub-configuration header is displayed on the panel screen giving clues and hints about the solution for the problem we are dealing with.

Windows Vista Power Options

Click on the Power Option settings to select a power plan and change plan settings.
As displayed on the Power Options configuration screens, there are three preferred plans Balanced, Power saver and High performance.

Vista Preffered Power Plans

By using the "Change plan settings" hyperlink, you can edit plan settings in detail.

Vista Power Plans Edit Settings

Click on the "Changed advanced power settings".

Scroll down to "Power buttons and lid". There exists three buttons to be configured: power button, sleep button and start menu power button.

You can alter the "Start menu power button" setting from "Sleep" to "Shut down" or to "Hibernate".

Power buttons and lid start menu power button

Click OK to apply the altered changes. After making changes on the power options, you can see that the color of the start menu power button has changed to red.

Vista start menu shut-down button

Also the tooltip displayed when you move the mouse over the start menu power button has changed from sleep state tooltip message to :

startmenu button tooltip for shutdown

"Closes all open programs, shuts down Windows, and then turns off your computer.".

We have changed the start menu power button default action to Shut down from Sleep by editing the advanced power plan settings on Windows Vista.




Copyright © 2004 - 2021 Eralper YILMAZ. All rights reserved.